The Eight Halfbloods and the Maiden's Daughter
by empurple
Summary: The only daughter of Apollo in a millenia meets one of the most life-threatening quests in all her life together with her strangely unclaimed bestfriend: To rinse the name of her Aunt Artemis' name and find out the truth about this "Maiden's Daughter". On hiatus.
1. Greed Saves

**A/N: **Thanks for choosing to read the Eight Halfbloods Series! I implore you not to seek out how long I take to update - you might waste your time -but I DO honestly try to do so as soon as possible. :) Enjoy!

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**The Eight Halfbloods and the Maiden's Daughter**

by: 'The Sun and Moon'

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Greed Saves

Last day of the school year on a year that nothing totally weird has ever happened could just be the best day for best friends Allysa and Charmagne. Before they met, every year would have at least one horrible experience: being chased by an overfed lion, going to the beach and accidentally make a mini-tsunami, or waking up from a weekend camp-out to find a seven-foot dog right in front of your tent. Allysa sighed deeply, she was more than delighted about the whole year.

Arriving early like she did the past ten months, Allysa sat on her place right beside her friend's place beside the air-conditioner in their classroom. Summer certainly was catching up on them and it was getting _very_ hot. Not that she was complaining, though. The sun gave her a very nice tan – but she didn't exactly need it owing to the fact that her color was far more impeccable than a tan.

"Hmm… Staring out the window again while waiting for dearest Charmagne to arrive?"

Allysa rolled her eyes. She knew that voice: It was Mammon Egos.

"Mon, you passed my year with flying colors," she began, glaring up at the thirteen year old boy bending over her, "Why do you keep on insisting on coming back to these rooms?"

Mon grinned his lopsided grin, "Well, aren't you glad I actually _do_?" he asked the Allysa.

_No regrets there,_ Allysa thought, "But Mon, I also know you're hiding from your fan girls out there," Allysa pointed out.

Mon's eye twitched. Allysa knew she hit the bull's eye: Mon, whose looks aren't exactly anything too special, had this charm that made some of the upperclassmen swoon over him. He was the right height, but around just as tall as Allysa, with short black hair and dark brown eyes. Most people would immediately say he's intimidating and scary but Allysa knew that he was really soft hearted, and often teased him about being so.

"Moving _on_," Mon pressed, ignoring Allysa's previous statement, "I actually came here to warn you about something…"

Allysa was intrigued. So, she looked at Mon making sure that he knew she was all-ears.

"Something really bad might happen to you today," he said in a low voice as students behind them began filing in, whispering to each other, "Be careful with what you'd do or what you'd say. If you think things are _really_ going bad, just call me. Seriously, I'd be there," he ended with a softer smile than his usual lopsided grin.

Just as Allysa was about to say something, Charmagne dropped her stuff on the seat in front of the air-conditioner, "Good morning …" she muttered. She quietly sat down.

_It' must be the morning_, Allysa thought to herself. Indeed. She had already found out that Charmagne was **always** quieter in the morning.

Allysa turned back to Mon, "You were saying?"

But Mon just grinned and waved good-bye. Allysa rolled her eyes: _Seriously!_ She thought, _Fourteen year-olds…_

But she had relied on Mon a lot this year, her subconscious mind told her. And it was true. Mammon had been there when a strange, overgrown bull attacked her at the rodeo their class went to the previous fall. He had used a three-foot long stick, although she thought she saw it as an iron sword, to hit it on its back before it fell on the sandy ground. He was also there for Charmagne when she was about to get hit by a large comet – which somehow swerved into another direction and didn't land in the school grounds. After that incident, Mammon had been a school-wide hero.

"Hey, stand up!" Charmagne said, poking her in the ribs.

Yelping, Allysa got up from her chair, earning the stares of her classmates. She saw that her teacher had just arrived and was looking at her inquisitively. She bowed an apology, then turned to Charmagne and narrowed her eyes. Her friend had gathered energy, it seemed, and was grinning widely at her. She heaved an exasperated sigh and sat back down when her teacher told them too.

Allysa's mind began racing: this was what happened to her usually during class. She had to keep her pen down, doodling, writing poetry or copying the notes her teachers wrote on the board so as not to be bored. Charmagne had the same problem, but Charmagne chose to doodle only and listen carefully. One of them had to learn the lessons in _some _way.

Then, she felt someone's gaze on her back. She turned to her right and found that somewhere behind her, her half-German classmate, Joshua von Christ was staring at her, mildly amused.

Her heart missed a beat: she's had a crush on the boy from the time he was introduced to their class in back in the second week of November. His short blond hair clearly caught her attention and his emerald green eyes made her feel like she was staring into the sea.

"Miss Elios, will you please expand this equation?"

Allysa woke up from her stance. She stared hard at the equation.

From beside her, Charmagne cleared her throat and read from her notebook: "It's "Quantity x minus four, squared,"'

"X squared minus eight x plus sixteen," Allysa said. The teacher blinked twice at her.

"Excellent – although you had to have someone read it out for you," her teacher muttered half the sentence under her breath. Allysa and Charmagne paid no heed to it.

Allysa turned to Charmagne, "Thanks,"

"Sure," her best friend replied, "S'okay,"

And after two hours of math, Algebra and Statistics, Allysa and Charmagne headed out of their class for recess. After eating a light snack, they each went to separate classes: Allysa to music class, which Charmagne will take after she did, and Charmagne to World History, which Allysa would take together with Mammon's year afterwards.

In music class, Charmagne was together with Allysa's little crush. He would steal glances at her but she merely shook him off, her long, curly, black hair bouncing off her shoulders. Afterwards, he would shake his head and sigh miserably. Although, she knew that he would steal glances again sometime later, sometimes at her best friend as well.

_Hmm. I better tell 'Lysa this,_ she mentally told herself.

Meanwhile, in World History, Allysa was with Mammon, he sent her a note with a small bottle of what it seemed like ointment.

_In case your head begins to hurt again._

Allysa smiled, _How thoughtful of him to remember that I've had nightmares when I accidentally fall asleep in class_, she said to herself.

She placed the small bottle of ointment in her pocket then stuffed the note somewhere inside her bag. As she did, she felt like she was going to take the ointment out again, and she'd use it on her arm. She subconsciously looked at her arm and saw that nothing was there. She sighed. She was thinking too much again.

Lunch that day was very much anticipated by the duo. It would be their final lunch at that particular school for that year. As most of their lunches went, they began talking about anything **but** academics. As she was intrigued by Mammon's little _gift_, Allysa told her best friend about it:

"And he gave me this ointment thing for when I have horrible migraine whenever I have those weird déjà vu dreams during class hours," Allysa began as she sat down on their usual table, Charmagne sitting beside her.

"Does it work?" asked her friend. Allysa shrugged.

"I haven't tried it yet," replied Allysa, "But it sure smelled great… Like some exotic flower…"

"Oh yea?" Charmagne asked, taking a spoonful pudding.

Allysa nodded, drinking from her soda can, "Like those on men's perfumes," she mused but Charmagne scrunched up her nose, "Which you don't like very much, I believe…"

Charmagne stared at her in disbelief, "Seriously," she started

The brunette giggled again. But then, she felt a gaze on her back again. This time, she and Charmagne both looked back and found Joshua staring at them both.

"Is that…" Allysa's sighed dreamily, "Joshua?"

They turned back to their lunches, "Yep," the black-haired girl replied shortly, "And by the way, I've been feeling his gaze on us too many times before…"

Allysa smiled with a faint blush on her cheeks but Charmagne chose to ignore it, "He's weird, 'Lysa," she warned her friend.

But the brunette's infatuation carried on, "Nah, he's nobility," Allysa said to Charmagne to the boy's defense, "I mean, his name's "von" Christ…"

Charmagne rolled her eyes, though Allysa had expected it: Charmagne wasn't really into that kind of talk. The dark-haired girl was about to stand from her seat to throw her garbage when Allysa stopped her.

"Wait."

And just then, someone behind them slipped on spilled juice on the floor and his food fell a few feet from where Charmagne was heading. She grinned at Allysa

"Thanks,"

However, before she stood up again, Mon sat on the chair right in front of them.

"Hey you two!" he exclaimed, "Watcha talking about?"

Charmagne answered him, "Something about names," before she stood up to throw her trash.

"Joshua's name," Allysa added, swooning.

"Names?" mused the fourteen-year old. Allysa nodded.

"You know, my name 'Mammon', it means 'greed'…" he said to her. Allysa cocked an eyebrow.

"But… You don't _look _like that type of person…"

Mon laughed at her, "I'll take that as a complement," he said.

Just as Charmagne got back, the end-of-lunch bell rang. Although Charmagne kept on saying "It's not yet bell,", Allysa walked back with her, with Mon going back to his friends.

Just as they were retrieving their things for their General Science class, someone slammed the door of Allysa's locker just after she had finished.

"Can we talk later?"

The suave, accented voice could not be anybody else.

"What?" Allysa couldn't hide her glee but she talked calmly, attempting to avoid the temptation of Joshua's beautiful green eyes.

"After we're dismissed," he began again slowly, "Can we please talk? Maybe at the music room?" he paused and side-glanced at Charmagne, "You know… Alone?"

Charmagne rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. Allysa, on the other hand, was more than ecstatic.

"O-of course!"

**X.o.X.o.X**

Charmagne began following Allysa inconspicuously.

Of course, she knew that her foreigner classmate wouldn't do anything to Allysa, but since Mon had been the one to warn her right before classes began after lunch, she became cautious:

"_As much as possible, you and Allysa should stay together this afternoon…"_

_Hmm…_ she thought to herself. She traced Allysa's footsteps towards the music room. The halls began growing quiet for everyone wanted to enjoy their last day. The Music Room was very near the Ninth-grader territory but it seemed that most of them had left, most of the lights were even turned off because nobody was using them. About a block away, she heard a faraway door close. That, she figured was the Music Room.

For a while, all Charmagne heard was silence. Then, there was a deafening scream.

"HELP!"

And when Charmagne got to the end of the hall, she found out why: Allysa was on the floor, slowly moving backwards, with something that looked like an anorexic human with batwings flying softly above her.

Charmagne gasped. Whatever it was, it had Joshua's clothes; it was _Joshua_.

Allysa slowly looked back when she heard footsteps. Her eyes widened when she saw Charmagne.

"Charmagne… RUN!"

And she quickly got on her feet and dashed after her best friend who ran a few paces ahead of her. Behind them, whatever it was that Joshua had turned into, sniggered like madman.

"What _is_ that?" Allysa demanded as they ran down a staircase to the first floor.

Charmagne began panting, "You were-pant- meeting him! Don't you-pant- know?"

They turned at a corner but then found that it was blocked by an already closed canteen door.

"Damn."

Then, they heard the snickering come closer. The flying thing had followed them right into a dead end. It cackled loudly before smacking its lips in the darkness.

"Wait… What do we do?" Allysa began to pull on Charmagne's arm.

"I don't know, this looks bad!" replied the dark-haired girl.

Then, Allysa remembered Mammon's words:

_If you think things are __**really**__ going bad, just call me…_

Without thinking, Allysa just screamed, "HELP, MON!"

The flying thing cackled again.

"Nobody's coming for you!" it screeched.

Charmagne and Allysa exchanged nervous glances.

"Die, godlings!"

Charmagne and Allysa were about to squint their eyes when, as it was about to swoop over them, a three-foot iron sword pierced right through its heart and it disintegrated into ashes. And when Allysa looked carefully, from the shadows, emerged a greatly distressed Mammon Egos.

"C'mon guys, there's not much time…"

**XoXoXoXoX**

**© empurple**


	2. Mammon and his overfed Dog

**A/N:** This was written at night because I was strangely in the mood so... Comments? :)

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Mammon and his over-fed Dog

The trio ran through the halls and down the stairs.

"Mon, what _was_ that thing?" Allysa breathed out as they landed on the first floor of the school.

"Incubus," replied the fourteen year old, "A legendary monster. But I never thought one of them would find us so easily…" They turned and headed for the front doors of the school.

"Find us?" Charmagne demanded, side-glancing at Allysa.

They were heading out the door, "What do you mean find-?"

Allysa was cut off when Mammon pulled her by the arm and stared straight into the cliques that were huddled in a group right in front of the stairs: they were all either cheerleaders or runway models for the school.

Mon gulped, "When I say go, run to the archery room at the door to the left at the end of the hall behind us," he whispered, barely audible to the two girls but they nodded in unison.

"You… Killed Joshua?" said one blonde cheerleader.

None of them answered. To Allysa and Charmagne's surprise, the cheerleader growled and screeched, then it turned into a female version of what they saw Joshua earlier: an anorexic body and large, bat-like wings. After the first, several of the others glanced at each other and created what it seemed like a domino effect, all emerging into their true forms.

"Holy-"

"GO!" And the trio ran back inside as fast as their legs could carry them and ran straight into the archery room.

Allysa and Charmagne were the first to get in and once Mammon was with them, they began barricading the room with whatever they found around the room.

"You know, there's another entrance, at the back," Mon pointed out as he began heaving a metal utility closet towards the door he was reffering to.

Allysa left Charmagne to help Mammon and as she helped Mon, she caught a glimpse of the range at the back of their school. But when they heaved the large closet, the range went out of view.

"Allysa, staring won't help us," Mon said in a strained voice, actually opening the closet and taking two bows and two quivers of arrows and handed one of each to Allysa and Charmagne, "These are the best we've got…" he added. Then, to the surprise of the two girls, he went straight towards a small fountain at the corner of the room, stepped on the lever and tossed a large, golden coin in the flowing water. He turned to the girls for a while, "Back me up for a bit," and he began strangely muttering at the water.

As he did, Allysa and Charmagne took position at the center of the room, one facing the back door and the other facing the main entrance where they entered. There was a loud screeching and scratching on both.

"Mammon…" Charmagne began saying, already taking deep breaths and readying her arrows in position. She glanced sideways slightly and found that Allysa had done the same.

"-Of _course_ I know! Father has told me-"

"… Mammon…" Allysa was now the one to say, slightly louder than the first. She and Charmagne had pulled their bows up and were ready to fire since they heard the scratching increase.

"-At the center of the – Yes Chiron, I got it-"

"MAMMON!" Both girls screamed. Just as they did, two doors of the archery room exploded and the older boy turned to both of them, horrified-

_SWOOSH. SWOOSH. _

-except that the first two arrows fired were well aimed and went straight at the hearts of the first two monsters that entered. The mildly surprised Mammon found that Allysa's arrow glowed bright gold as it whizzed in the air and the fast and more accurate one that Charmagne shot radiated a light, silver glow.

"Die, godlings!" the next one shouted, flying towards Allysa. Mammon chose this moment to take his iron sword and throw it exactly at the one flying towards the brown-haired girl. All three they hit disintegrated into ashes but it was too early to rejoice for right afterwards, a loud shriek was heard.

"MAMMON!" It _was_ Allysa. She was taken by another one, whose tail was the one that grabbed her. The bow and quiver fell off her shoulders and she screamed in panic.

"MAMMON! CHARMAGNE!" she cried out in between wails as the monster swung her around using its tail, "HELP ME!"

"Give her to me!" hissed another and it took Allysa by its claws and grabbing her by the shoulders.

"You let her go!" shouted Charmagne, and an arrow whizzed past Allysa's arm, slightly grazing her, then hitting the one holding her square at the chest.

She screamed again as she began falling when Mammon kicked what it seemed like the Archery Club's laundry basket towards her where she fell lightly. Once she was out, she scrambled for her bow and quiver and began helping Charmagne and Mon whipping out most of the winged monsters.

"And these are…?" Allysa shouted, shooting two golden arrows at the same time.

"Succubi," replied Mon, swinging his sword at anything that came as close to one foot within his range, "The female counterpart of the one earlier… They're slightly… Hormonal,"

"Oh, very funny Mon!" shouted Charmagne in complete sarcasm, shooting an arrow that whizzed through three succubi at once, "How do we get out?"

They all went back into the center of the room, all on each other's backs, facing three different directions. For a moment, succubi stopped entering the room. There was a long silence.

"They're going to come in one big swoop," said Allysa with a gulp.

"How do you know?" Mon asked, looking at everything in her peripheral vision.

"I just do," replied the brunette.

Charmagne took readied an arrow, "So, back to my question… How do we get out?"

"Let's use the main entrance," Mammon suggested, "You two hit all the one's that are there and leave me to the rest…"

"But, Mon-"

"Trust me." He said firmly. Even though they were both still quite unsure, Charmagne and Allysa nodded.

Just then, there were several loud, deafening screeches and the succubi flew into the room maybe ten at a time. Allysa and Charmagne kept shooting and shooting their arrows at one direction when they both caught a glimpse of green fire.

"Get out, now!"

And Mon led the two girls through the burning succubi and they ran.

"What's in the center of the school?"

Allysa and Charmagne exchanged glances, "What's that got to do with-"

"Just answer!" commanded Mammon, startling Allysa who was asking.

"The auditorium," replied Charmagne, still confused.

"All right," said Mammon, running faster, "'Cause that's the darkest place in the school…"

**X.o.X.o.X**

Mammon slashed the door of the auditorium open and it crashed down. He felt for the lights from right beside the door and dim lights from the rim of the room began lighting up. Allysa and Charmagne immediately ran down to the center of the room and readied their arrows immediately.

"Stay away from any of the shadows," Mon warned, running after them.

He reached Allysa and Charmagne and looked around the room as though waiting for something. Allysa lowered her weapon, "What are you looking for?" she asked him.

"Our way out," he replied shortly. Suddenly, he noticed that Allysa's right arm was bleeding and her blood was flowing down to her arrows, "… Your arm,"

Allysa looked at what he was pointing at and she shrugged, "It'll be all right,"

"No… The ointment I gave earlier, use it," he said to her, "I promise you that it will at least scab it…"

Allysa dropped her weapon and felt her pockets for the ointment. When she found it from her pocket, she dabbed some on her wound, spread it a bit with her middle and index finger and she felt the wound closing quickly. Mon was watching her until he heard loud flapping and cackling.

"Pick up your weapon, pick up your weapon," he muttered quickly, "Now, now, now!"

And the startled Allysa dropped the small bottle of ointment and picked up her fallen bow and arrow. She and Charmagne pointed their arrows at the crashed door of the auditorium, waiting, while Mon had his iron sword ready from behind them.

All of a sudden, around fifty or so succubi and incubi came flying into the auditorium. The first five or ten were shot down like barbeques by the first arrows Charmagne and Allysa shot but the next few were becoming near misses. No matter what they did, they didn't hit quit at the right mark and panic was starting to grow on the two girls because their arrows were lessening in number. Mammon was also too busy trying to save his own skin since he was being attacked by more of the legendary creatures as they eventually found out that they could get neither Charmagne nor Allysa, who were currently both using ranged weapons, unlike the meelee weapon Mon was using.

Charmagne felt inside her quiver. _Two more?_

She took one and prayed that she would at least hit two. She readied herself but released far too early and her arrow went flying into a completely different direction, "NO!" she exclaimed.

To her surprise, the arrow glowed a light shade of silver and bent in its path and turned and hit four incubi straight.

Allysa took another arrow where she had four left, but asked, "How did you do that?"

"I really don't know," replied her friend.

"A little help would be very nice!" shouted Mammon, as more succubi surrounded him.

Allysa was aiming at the ones coming in from the door but then turned and aimed at the ones surrounding Mon. She released her arrow and gave a loud, almost commanding shout, "Go!"

And she was completely shocked to find that the seven succubi that surrounded Mon were all struck with her one arrow.

"And you ask _me_ how I did that?" demanded her best friend, who was now using her bow to merely stab whatever came near her.

"I don't _know_ okay? I just-"

"_WOOF! WOOF WOOF!"_

And from the shadows, a large, black dog – larger than a military tank – bounded and started biting off most of the incubi and succubi it saw.

"Mrs. O'Leary?" Mon's voice shouted. It seemed that the dog was happy to hear from him that it leapt towards him and whipped any flying incubus or succubus with her wagging tail. The large, black poodle then pushed Mammon with her snout, to which the fourteen year old replied with a, "Yeah, yeah I missed you too, but where's Medea?" Somewhere after this, Allysa distinctly remembered whether or not Mammon fed his dog properly or maybe gave it too much nutrients.

"_WOOF WOOF! WOOF WOOF!"_

And another dog bounded from the shadows, this one slightly bigger being a brown mastiff, and it bit all the remaining incubi that surrounded Allysa and Charmagne.

"Medea!"

"WOOF!"

And the two girls watched as Mon was tossed by the snout of the large mastiff and off to its back. And Charmagne thought that this dog was _way_ bigger than the black poodle.

"There's not much time to explain," he began, hearing loud flapping again, "Just get onto Mrs. O'Leary's back so that we can be off…"

"What?" the two retorted at the same time.

All of a sudden, there was screeching again and incubi were flying into auditorium. Mon groaned and grabbed the large collar on the brown mastiff he was on and turned to the black poodle, "Mrs. O'Leary, get them on you, now!"

The big, black dog barked loudly and nuzzled Allysa and Charmagne so hard that they went flying into the air but she caught them that they landed spot on their back… Or, more or less there.

"I got you," Allysa was shouting as she pulled her friend up the back of the large dog.

"Now, shout to the dog 'Camp Half Blood'!" commanded Mon. He turned to the dog he was riding, "Camp Half Blood, Medea!"

And to the two girl's surprise, the dog dived right into the shadows and disappeared.

Allysa looked up at the incubi and then at the shadows, "Are we really gonna do that?" she asked her friend.

Charmagne shrugged, "It's been a weird day already, hasn't it?" she said, looking up at the incubi who were hesitating to attack them. They nodded simultaneously.

"C-camp half-f blood!"

The dog bounded and disappeared through the shadows and for a moment, Allysa and Charmagne couldn't see anything then, the dog stopped abruptly and, since neither of them held onto the collar, they went flying straight into the ground about twenty meters across where the dog stopped and landed on some limbs that were probably broken, landing about seven feet away from each other. Dogs barked in the distance and the sound of people coming out of houses and several murmurs and whispers began filling the air.

Heads began aching and the last thing either of the two girls remembered was Mon's voice shouting:

"They're safe! Chiron-"

**XoXoXoXoX**

**© empurple**


	3. Dawn

**A/N: **I hate my laptop for having a crappy keyboard. This is why I love my desktop computer. (By the way... I'm not sure if what the Poseidon kid did here would be possible or not... Let's just say it is since it is FanFICTION, right? *smiles* ) Written at night... Again... Since I was in the mood :) Comments are very much appreciated.

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Dawn

"…_Even in the dark of night, _

_The stars provide a silver light…"_

Allysa moaned softly, opening her eyes. She saw light coming in from the room, dim like the light of dawn. With that dim light, she thought she saw a figure sitting on a stool right at her bedside.

"Shh," he whispered, the voice soft and slightly concerned, "You can still sleep. You haven't fully healed yet. It's way too early for you to wake up,"

And the last thing she remembered was feeling water snaking around her right arm and whatever pain she felt from her previous wound was disappearing.

**X.o.X.o.X**

Charmagne sat bolt upright.

It was dusk. She didn't see it exactly but the darkness outside made her believe it. She found herself in a cabin that looked slightly close to a hospital. She looked around and found Allysa fast asleep on the bed to her right, and a stool was on the other side of her.

"Ah, Miss Levana," said a low voice, "It seems you woke up before Allysa Elios has,"

And a man in a wheelchair entered the room. He had tousled, wavy brown hair and kind brown eyes to match. He smiled at Charmagne who looked at him with eyebrows raised.

"I see," she said, hesitant to say anything else.

The man waited but seeing as she didn't say anything else, he chuckled lightly, "Ah, forgive me for startling you," he began, "I was just in to see if either of you have recovered – thankfully your friend, 'Mon' was with you that evening… By the way, I am known as Chiron…"

"Chiron?" repeated Charmagne with an eyebrow raised, "Funny… That's the name of-"

"Indeed, the guide for demi-gods in Greek Mythology," Chiron said with a wide grin, "I see that you are informed – Montez did mention that you have been using Greek to be able to learn your lessons well. Of course, that same man is _exactly _who I am."

He waited again for Charmagne to have some sort of violent reaction but she stared at him, faintly in disbelief, mostly in a mere stoic expression. Chiron sighed. "I know that you may be quite confused right now…" he began however, to his surprise, Charmagne shook her head.

"Strangely, not at all, Chiron," Charmagne began, "It now explains all that's happened to us – the creatures, the hounds…" she gasped, "It's just like that book that came out about fifteen years ago!" she exclaimed.

"Ah. Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson Series. He _is_ still alive…"

"Yes. He even gave a talk in our school," added Charmagne, recalling the event of the author's visit.

"I meant Percy, Charmagne," stated Chiron, "He isn't just a character in that book – he's the big brother of two of the new generation of demi-gods…"

"Gods." It was all Charmagne could muster. A dream come true.

Of course, she hadn't read the books, because of her dyslexia, but she's heard from the author's talk that it _was_ about a demi-god, Poseidon's son, Percy. She never expected him to be real – any of them to be real. Yet, there they were. She was right in front of Chiron. And if Allysa knew it – Oh gods, Allysa! She turned to her snoozing best friend on the bed to her right.

"Chiron…" Charmagne suddenly asked but Chiron gave a knowing smile, most probably because she looked at her friend.

"Yes, my dear," he said as though in reply, "Your friend is a demi-god as well. We know neither of your parents, but I assure you that we will all find out…"

Charmagne nodded. And when Chiron motioned for her to follow him out the room, she did so willingly.

**X.o.X.o.X**

Allysa tried to feel her surroundings before she opened her eyes.

Yes, she was lying on the bed and no, she wasn't as hurt as she remembered herself being. As usual, she felt the heat of the morning sun emanating from somewhere, making her somehow know that a window was near her.

She moaned softly, opening her eyes and revealing cerulean blue shades. She sat up slowly and found herself in some sort of ward, but it was empty. Shrugging it off, she sat up, scampered for her shoes and looked for a door.

Finding it, she headed towards the door and was about to open it when it opened, much to her surprise, and she was met by a girl, slightly smaller than her, with black hair and gray eyes.

"Oh! You're here – I mean, it's you – I mean, you're awake!" the girl exclaimed. Then, the black-haired girl's nose twitched, "Why do you smell like mud and dog?" But without waiting for Allysa's answer, the girl grabbed Allysa's shirt and dragged her out.

She was dragged all the way to the front porch where she found a man in a wheelchair and another man with curly hair, wearing a tiger striped Hawaiian shirt. He raised an eyebrow at Allysa's entrance but maybe decided to say nothing of it.

"Ah, I see that she _is_ awake, then, Patricia," the man in the wheelchair said with a smile.

"Yeah, she was on her way out when I was going in to wake her," replied the girl who had just let go of Allysa's shirt.

"Very well," said the handicapped man, "Inform Lawrence and I'm sure he'll know what this means," The girl named Patricia nodded and left, waving at Allysa as she dashed off. Allysa took a good look around: from what she saw, she was surely near a forest, lots of trees and fresh air. In the distance, she could see kids, about her age, swinging swords at each other, probably sparring, although it looked to her like the swords were very real. And there were a lot of them: the whole place just seemed to be crowded with kids. And they all wore the same shirt, which was the same to what the girl named Patricia wore: an orange shirt with the words, "Camp Half-Blood".

"Ah… Confused, my dear?" asked the man in the wheelchair.

Allysa was about to nod when the other man snorted, "Don't ask, Chiron, just enlighten her…"

The brunette turned her attention to him but the bloodshot eyes caught her slightly off guard and she gasped. She looked at him closely for a moment before saying, "You… aren't human,"

The two men exchanged glances. The one named Chiron cleared his throat, "Indeed, he is not," he said to her, "He is Dionysus, an-"

"Olympian god," continued Allysa out of the blues. Chiron stared at her but Allysa shook her head, "I'm sorry – you were saying?"

"Yes… A god…" Chiron began again, looking at her curiously, "And most gods, just for you to know, often mingle with humans and the results are half-bloods, or what most people call 'demi-gods'. As it seems, my dear, you are one of the gifted…"

"No way," Allysa said in disbelief, "If I were a demi-god, I'd have some sort of powers – but I don't! Really… I can't be a demi-god"

Dionysus snorted at her there, "You don't have to see your demi-god powers for you to be a demi-god," he said to her as-a-matter-of-factly, "Some kids don't even know they're half-bloods 'til someone recruits them. But we've gotten information about you directly, and oh, yes: we're sure."

Now Allysa looked more confused than she previously was, "Information about me… Directly?" she turned to Chiron.

"Ah, we might have forgotten to mention that Montaserium has been observing you and your friend…" Chiron said to her.

"Montaserium?"

"You know him – the boy who brought you here?"

"You mean Mammon?" Allysa queried.

Chiron smiled, "Yes, him. Although I never thought he'd actually use that name," he mused.

Allysa looked ever confused still, "But I thought you said he was observing me and _my friend_… Which one?"

"That one."

Allysa looked at the direction Chiron nodded his head at and found that Charmagne was walking towards her, an unmistakable grin etched on her pale face and she donned orange 'Camp Half-blood' shirt like the others. Right behind her was boy who looked about seventeen, with short auburn hair and bright blue eyes.

"Charmagne!" Allysa exclaimed in her high pitch.

"Hey, 'Lysa." Charmagne greeted in return, she then looked at Chiron, "We're starting at the same place, right?"

"Yes,"

Charmagne nodded and to answer the look on Allysa's face, she chuckled and said, "We'll be temporarily staying in the same cabin."

"Oh yeah?" Allysa asked, "Where's that?"

"Hermes Cabin," the boy with Charmagne said, "Hi," he held out a hand for Allysa to shake, "Lawrence Riyalgo. Counselor..."

Allysa shook his hand with a smile, "Allysa Elios." But she turned to Chiron again, "Wait, I don't understand-"

"Anything else you'll need to know would be explained to you by Lawrence and Charmagne, I'm sure," Chiron said to her, "Just stay in the Hermes Cabin until you find out who your Olympian parent is. We will see you at supper."

"C'mon," and Charmagne gave her friend a prod in the waist, which Allysa yelped in, but decided to say nothing of.

Allysa followed Charmagne and Lawrence down a path and towards what it seemed like several buildings lined up against each other.

"First," began Lawrence, grinning widely, "Welcome to Camp Halfblood."

**X.o.X.o.X**

Charmagne and Lawrence led her towards the buildings stacked up to resemble a symbol she remembered as the last letter of the Greek alphabet, the omega, "Ω". Or at least, that's what she thought. The passed by several kinds of buildings, which were supposed to be the cabins, and when Allysa looked at the doors, she found different symbols: like a balance on one and a dark-colored crown on another. Then, some weird happenings on some cabins like one being surrounded by thick mist.

"Oh, here we are," chuckled Lawerence, "Cabin Eleven: Hermes Cabin... And right there next door is Aphrodite's Cabin..."

A mischievous smile prowled on his face when a girl, with white skin and long brown hair came out from the cabin right next to them.

"Hi Mandy," Charmagne greeted, though she cast a knowing grin towards Lawrence direction.

"Hi Togo," the girl named Mandy smiled. Then, she sniffed and looked at Allysa as though she was growing antlers, "You... Smell weird. Hold on..."

And she ran back into her cabin, emerging right afterwards with three bottles in her arms, "Here," and she gave it to Allysa, "Shampoo, Body wash and lotion... The last two are rose scented, so you might like them..."

And she waved good-bye and she skipped off.

Lawrence was speechless for a moment until Allysa and Charmagne nudged him, "Hey, she's gone now... Let's move on," Allysa added, a smirk prowling on her face.

Although he was turning quite red, Lawrence exhaled and said, "Right," before opening the door to the cabin.

Immediately, Allysa was met by two boys, about eight years old, running towards her with wooden swords in their hands. When they saw Lawrence behind her, however, they stopped abruptly.

"Hi Law," one with short brown hair, "We're goin' sparring!"

"Yeah," added the one with auburn hair, "To practice!"

And they sounded extremely excited about it.

Lawrence chuckled, "All right, then... There are a lot of people on the grounds so spar on the shore - I think it's not tanning day..."

And with firm nods, the two boys ran past Charmagne and Allysa and waved their wooden swords.

Charmagne grinned, "The brown haired kid's Dave Travis. The other one's Rick George..." Allysa nodded here, "They're... Seven?"

"Eight," corrected Lawrence.

"Sorry," said Charmagne, "Eight, then."

Allysa smiled, "Lively, aren't they?"

Lawrence laughed, "You have _no_ idea..."

**X.o.X.o.X**

The feeling you get exactly after a bath is just absolutely amazing - especially after smelling like dog for three whole days. So, extremely refreshed, Allysa allowed Charmagne to give her a tour around the other parts of Camp she hasn't seen yet.

"... And down here is the way to shore - to the lake," Charmagne finished, showing her a path that was slowly merging with sand.

"Really? A lake?" all of a sudden, Allysa seemed really interested, "Let's go see!"

"But I-" Charmagne didn't have any time to protest for Allysa had skipped down towards the shore. Chuckling, Charmagne followed after her best friend, wondering why she would wear short shorts with her Camp Halfblood shirt. However, all her wondering was drowned by Allysa's all too familiar voice:

"- You coward! How can you do that to someone so defenseless?"

And that instantly meant trouble.

When Charmagne caught up, she found Allysa helping up one of the boys from the Hermes cabin from the sand. Right in front of Allysa, however, was the epitome of trouble himself: a boy with short, layered black hair, pale skin and sea-green eyes.

"He tried to pick my pockets and you try to save _him_." the boy said to her matter-of-factly, "What is _wrong_ with you?"

"If you weren't drowning him, it would've been okay," Allysa retaliated, frowning, but still helping up the Hermes kid.

"Tch. And that's coming from someone new? Who do you think you _are_?... Well, it still serves him right."

"He's _eight_, and you're a Poseidon kid," when Allysa said this, the boy's eyes widened, "What chance did a Hermes kid have?"

The kid, Dave, coughed a little, wiping away the water from his face, then looked up at Allysa, "How did you know that Dylan's a Poseidon kid?"

The boy named Dylan continued to stare at her but Allysa was still racking her brains for an answer.

"But… You are... right?" Allysa asked uncertainly.

Instead of answering, Dylan tossed a disposable pen at her, "Meet me back here at three in the morning... Maybe you'll find out then," he said, turning his back on her, "...And don't lose that pen - it's my big brother's favorite."

And without waiting for Allysa's say, he walked off in the opposite direction.

Charmagne, who had been watching and listening, came up to Allysa, who ruffled Dave's hair before he ran off to tell anyone - or, more of everyone.

"'Lysa..." began Charmagne.

"I'm right, though, aren't I?" Allysa asked immediately, "He's a son of Poseidon?"

Charmagne nodded, "But you can't meet him at three in the morning," she started, "He's challenging you to a duel. And that pen - it's his sword..."

Allysa looked at the pen and found the word 'Anaklusmos' etched on it in Greek, "Riptide?" she asked Charmagne.

"... Yeah," replied Charmagne, putting her hands in her pockets and looking at the pen nervously, "... It's gonna be trouble, you know..."

"Yeah," Allysa replied, gripping the pen in one hand, "I know."

**X.o.X.o.X**

"- You _gave_ her Rip-!"

"-I didn't _say_ that! It'll come back after-"

"-Honestly! Just because you saw her in one of your-"

It was difficult not to overhear them – the boy named Dylan and the girl he was arguing with. Allysa and Charmagne thought of asking Chiron's advice about the duel she was about to get herself into but it seemed like Chiron most probably already knew.

"But Dylan," they heard Chiron say as they approached the Big House, "I doubt she even know how to fight – let alone duel!"

"_That's_ not my problem, Chiron," Dylan said coldly, "And Erin…" they heard him pause for a moment and look at the girl, "Stay out of this," And he ran past Allysa and Charmagne.

Chiron sighed exasperatedly and massaged his temples with one hand. Once Allysa and Charmagne got up the steps to the Big House, the girl looked at Allysa, bowed her head and said, "Sorry," before running after Dylan.

"…Chiron?"

He looked up after hearing Charmagne's voice, "Ah, Charmagne, Allysa," he started, taking a good look at the pair of them, "Forgive me if you heard that,"

Allysa looked at the girl's retreating back, "… That's his-"

"Sister," Charmagne finished for her, "Yeah."

The brunette's gaze returned to Chiron, "I have to go, don't I?"

"Not necessarily," began Chiron, "You did not even know of your blood until today – I doubt you know what weapon to wield. Nobody will think of you as anything but being cautious…"

"But," Allysa looked at her best friend, "I _know _what weapon to wield."

Chiron realized that when Charmagne gulped, she knew what weapon it was.

**X.o.X.o.X**

As promised, Allysa scrambled out of bed just ten minutes before three in the morning. Lawrence was still, pretty much, in bed but the two kids were up and about, most probably going to watch the duel. Changing into a new pair of shorts and a new 'Camp Half-blood' shirt, Allysa just kept on getting ready until she heard a voice say, "No matter how many times I say it's trouble, you're still going to go, aren't you?"

Allysa grinned, "I doubt that you can take it out of my system,"

Hearing a small chuckle and a bed creak, Allysa knew that Charmagne was up. To confirm it, a hand firmly held onto her shoulder, "Well, I better come with you,"

As the two girls walked out of Hermes cabin and towards the shore, two other shadows came slowly towards them. Charmagne drew a deep breath, "Three… Two… One…"

And as Charmagne expected, a pair of arms collided with hers, "Hi Togo!"

Allysa recognized the girl as Patricia. The other person who made a shadow was Mandy from the Aphrodite cabin.

Finding that Allysa was staring at them, the Aphrodite child smiled pleasantly and stopped walking, making them all halt in place, "Amanda," she said, holding out a hand, "Amanda Hathe. And the skinny girl over there's Patricia Clover," she added, pointing to black-haired girl.

Allysa shook her hand then looked at Patricia, who scowled.

"Stop saying that," Patricia reclaimed, but she let it slide and turned to Allysa, "I'm not sure if you're aware yet, but I'm from Athena Cabin,"

"Thank's for telling me then," Allysa added as she let go of Amanda's hand, "But... If you all wouldn't mind, I have to go..." And she began walking again, with Charmagne following after her.

But the other two girls followed after them, "So you're really planning to duel?" asked the girl named Amanda.

Allysa nodded, "It's not like I've got anything better to do," she joked.

"This is serious," warned Patricia, "He could kill you - especially with his sword!"

But Patricia and Amanda gaped at her when she stopped and took out Riptide from her back pocket.

"How did you _take_ it from him?" demanded Amanda.

Allysa shook her head, "I didn't," she said solemnly, "He, well, gave it to me..."

"That's the only way it will stop coming back to him," Patricia suddenly said, "I think my sister mentioned that to me before... He proabably thinks that the duel would be fairer that way,"

"Or that he wants to prove that he can defeat you even without his sword," suggested Amanda. All the eyes turned to her, with eyebrow furrowed, "Just _maybe_," she added.

Allysa looked at her, then Patricia then finally Charmagne, "You haven't said anything," she said to her best friend.

But Charmagne turned her yellowish eyes towards her and one look made her realize why.

**X.o.X.o.X**

There was quite a large crowd when Allysa arrived at the shore with Patricia, Amanda and Charmagne. In the middle of it, or as Allysa could only presume, were the Poseidon kids, Erin and Dylan.

The first thing that was said to Allysa once she got through the crowd was, "Are you an _idiot_? My brother's going to mop the ocean floor with you!"

And she was vigorously shook by the shoulders until Patricia decided that Allysa needed to keep her head on, quite literally, and grabbed Erin's hands and pulled her away from Allysa.

"Stop it, her head might fall off," Patricia began saying but Allysa didn't hear how it ended for her eyes drifted towards Dylan.

As she slowly walked towards her opponent, the crowd gave them space.

"I thought you'd never come," he said to her, a smirk prowling on his pale face.

Allysa took Riptide out of her pocket and uncapped it, "I had to give you your pen back, didn't I?"

Dylan took a sword from one of the half-bloods who were watching, "I ain't gonna need my own sword to prove that you _can't_ talk to me like that,"

"Someone's got superiority complex?" Allysa muttered but Dylan heard her.

And he swung the sword around as though he spent his whole life practicing how to do it professionally.

Behind her, Allysa thought she heard Patricia say, "Tch. Show off,"

Nervous and honestly not knowing what she was doing, Allysa took the sword in both hands and charged in for an attack but Dylan easily - and lazily - blocked her.

"Amateur," he said, chuckling to himself.

Allysa then charged three or four time more but still, Dylan blocked them with ease, "Don't let your emotions get the better of you here, or I'll really win," And as though to prove his words, he pointed at the lake, then at Allysa and a streak of water hit her directly at the stomach, "Cool off,"

Thrown back about eight feet away, her clothes soaking wet, with lot's of screams from behind her and Riptide thrown at her feet, Allysa spat out a bit of water, "I'm just getting warmed up," she muttered as she got up on her feet again. Noticing the sword fallen at her feet, she kicked Riptide towards him, "I can fight you fair without _that_,"

And Allysa did something that Dylan - and everybody else, for that matter - didn't expect: she turned her back on him and began searching the crowds.

Even Patricia didn't like it, "She's _really_ going to get herself killed this way,"

But Allysa kept searching the crowds until she found Charmagne who tossed her exactly what she needed: a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"Good luck, 'Lysa!"

And once Allysa had taken her new weapon, she found that majority of the crowd was screaming. When she turned, she found that Dylan had just sent a thirty-foot wave towards her.

However, it was only when she got away that she realized that she wasn't the target - it was Charmagne.

Thinking of the only thing she _could_ do, Allysa pulled an arrow into her bow and whispered, "Dad, help me," and she sent her arrow flying.

As it whizzed through the morning air, Dylan only snickered, "There's no way a mere arrow can-"

But his voice got caught in his throat for Allysa's arrow shot straight towards his wave, cut it in half and made it shift noiselessly back to the shore.

"Its... It's not possible!" shouted Dylan, "Only-"

And he cut once more by the golden glow of Allysa's body.

"What? What are you all looking at?" Allysa demanded, looking around, then at the shore behind her and finding only the slow sunrise.

"Look _there_, above your head!" shouted Patricia.

And when she did, the shape of a golden lyre was just disappearing.

**XoXoXoXoX**

**© empurple**


	4. Never Alone

**A/N:** The two of us are both very sorry to those who have been waiting for this (Just for everyone to know, the "sun" in the authors is me, empurple :D)... It's just that when I lose inspiration after having it for a long time, it's hard to get back. Do enjoy this one though. Read and review please? ... Thank you!

**Disclaimer: **The song that Allysa and Charmagne were playing/singing in this chapter is Never Alone by Jim Brickman and Lady Antebellum.

* * *

**Never Alone**

"Wait... Huh? I don't under-"

"That means..." Patricia cast a mortified look at Charmagne, a hand flying towards her mouth in horror. Charmagne and Allysa glanced at each other, not knowing what was going on. It was as though to answer them that a handsome teen, with sandy-blond hair and beautiful cerulean eyes came towards them, panting.

"Is it true? It was really a golden lyre?" he demanded from Allysa, who could only nod in reply.

The teen cursed under his breath and sighed heavily, looking at Charmagne, "I knew it... You look just like her," he added, making the pair glance at each other again. Somewhere behind them, Erin had collected her brother and pushed him into the large crowd.

"I'm sorry if everyone else knows what's happening, but what are you talking about?" Allysa asked, confused in all honesty.

Before getting an answer, the guy in front of her took her into an embrace. And when he let go, the first thing he said was, "I'm Allan Cipher - I'm your big brother," he explained, "And I'm the counselor of the Apollo Cabin..."

Allysa's mouth dropped: Apollo was her Olympian parent! If so, Charmagne's could be-

"...And your best friend here is in grave danger," Allan added.

"Why?" Allysa couldn't help but retort, much to Charmagne's dismay.

"C'mon," Allan pulled both Allysa and Charmagne and headed towards the Big House, "I'll explain to both of you on the way to Chiron," he started, "This is about the Maiden's Daughter... Ever heard of the topic?"

"Not really," Charmagne replied, with Allysa shaking her head beside her, "... But I take it that the daughter we're talking about is me?"

Allan gulped and nodded, "And that's a completely different problem,"

"Okay, I think we're confused," Allysa said with a heavy sigh, "What is the first problem?"

"A maiden... Having a daughter..." Allan began slowly. He looked at Allysa who merely raised her eyebrows.

Beside her, Charmagne rolled her eyes, "'Lysa, a 'maiden' can't have a daughter - she's a maid, she's _**single.**_" Always had to be said in simple words.

"Oh, I get it," Allysa started, "Sorry, go on please..."

"Okay, that's the first... And then, the second problem is the daughter," he pointed at Charmagne, "Because Zeus found out."

"Uh-oh," the two girls said in chorus. The Big House was in sight now.

"That's right," began Allan, "Zeus demanded to know who it was - who the Maiden was. Because the penalty of breaking your vow as a god is death. And the thing is, in the Olympian circle, there are only two maidens left: Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth and Home, and our aunt, Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, and of the Hunt..." Allan took a good look at Charmagne again.

"And you look unmistakably like her,"

"Like Artemis," Allysa repeated and Allan nodded.

"But we can't exactly assure that, per se, because the gods can make extraordinary things happen - even change their children's appearance to keep them safe." He explained again, "So the thing is," started Allan as they began going up the front steps of the Big House, "We have to save both of them - or Zeus will literally have them fried,"

"I think I am aware,"

The trio didn't know that Chiron was already listening to their conversation:

"_There's one you think has broken her vow,_

_Yet not a single soul knows how_

_A girl has lived naught with her mother_

_In only twelve years will you have the answer,"_

Chiron looked at Charmagne, "That was what Rachel Elizabeth Dare said to me, twelve years ago, about _you_,"

Allysa was about to open her mouth to ask, but Chiron overrode her, "Rachel is the Oracle of Delphi, who gives prophecies of what will happen - what _could_ happen - but it's almost a hundred percent, and almost all the time," he began explaining, turning his wheelchair to the table where he and Dionysus previously sat behind, "At this point, however, you must realize that we have only a limited amount of time left before Zeus realizes who the Maiden's daughter is, and manage to find out who the mother is..." He looked at Allysa and Charmagne who were listening very carefully, "... Our goal is to save both - no matter who it is. Whether it is Hestia, or Artemis."

Again, Chiron looked at Allysa and Charmagne, "And I believe the two of you are the right ones to go,"

"On a quest?" asked Charmagne, just before Allysa could speak her question of going where.

"Yes," replied Chiron, "Don't you think so, Allan?"

The counselor nodded, "But they would need one more,"

"We can decide that later," started Chiron, "But as of now..." he eyed Allysa curiously with a small smile, "I believe you should fetch the nine, Allan. There is a need right here."

Allan grinned and said, "Of course," before leaving without another word.

"... Okay," Allysa began, "Let me just get this straight: My best friend and I are going to go on a quest to save her and her mother from being fried at the hands of the Lord of all gods..."

Charmagne couldn't help but chuckle, "Sounds about right,"

Allysa giggled, "I thought so too," she turned back to Chiron, "But... How exactly are we going to do all that? It's easier said than done, right?"

"I'm afraid so, my dear," replied Chiron, looking out the porch, "However, you would be surprised where you would find allies - even the gods do those kinds of things. And you would be surprised who of the gods could be your enemy..." Charmagne and Allysa exchanged nervous glances here, but Chiron continued, "... Still, don't be alarmed. You have people here who are going to help you... Like them."

Allysa hadn't even realized it but nine other guys had ran into the Big House - three kids first, all with the same sandy-blond hair that Allan had:

"Sister!"

"YAY!"

"-Hey, I got here first!"

And each one of them collided with Allysa's waist.

"One at a time, guys!" Allan shouted when he got up the porch.

"Like they ever listened to you, Allan," said one with strange, firey red hair, "Hey Adam! This is _your_ department!"

The guy who was named Adam, stepped up and helped Allysa push of each one of the three boys, "Easy boys, your sis ain't used to us yet," he said with a blinding smile.

"Hey, Charmagne," Allysa began, looking at the ten guys before her, "Are these all-?"

"Apollo Kids, yup," Charmagne said with a smirk, "All ten sons of the Sun."

Allan looked at Chiron, who gestured for him to start, "Okay guys, from top to bottom," he began, taking a step forward, "Allan Cipher, nineteen."

"Johan Libra," said the firey-haired boy, "Fifteen,"

"Adam Jaques," said the one nearest Allysa, "Fifteen,"

"John Lone," said one right beside Allan, one with darker brown hair, "Fourteen."

"Joshua Base," said one with black hair, behind Adam, "Thirteen."

"James Mitchell," said a small one beside John. He had long black hair tied in a low ponytail, "Twelve."

"Daniel Reynolds," said the tall one beside James. His skin was quite fair, compared to the rest, and his chocolate brown hair was also tied in a low ponytail, "Twelve as well."

"Alfred Grant!" shouted one of the trio in front of Adam, "I'm nine!"

"Dennis Javier!" started the one on the left of Alfred.

"Timothy Tricio!" the one on the right shouted back.

"We're eight!" they chorused.

Allysa couldn't help but laugh at the enthusiasm of her younger brothers, "Oh wow..." she mused, "I never knew I had so many brothers..."

Charmagne snickered at her, "And you thought you only had one."

**X.o.X.o.X**

Meeting her ten brothers was probably the biggest shock Allysa could ever have in her life. It was fine to have one brother and she wouldn't mind having two or three. But _ten_? So, after being welcomed into the Apollo Cabin, and being shown some special treatment that she wasn't expecting, especially being given the only queen-sized bed in the room, Allysa begged for a breather from her brothers. And of course, as Apollo's children, they have exactly what she needed.

"If you really want to get some time off to think," Allan started, all in a big-brother sort of way, "Then you should head out to the Music Cabin,"

Allysa seemed to register these words in her head, "There's a Music Cabin?"

Allan smirked. He sat on the bed across Allysa's, "Yeah," he began, "It was a gift for me, Adam, Johan and John a couple of years back. Being Apollo kids, we're all soothed by the sound of music... I think it'd be right if you headed there now,"

So naturally, Allysa headed out with instructions from her brothers on how to get to the Music Cabin.

She trotted off down to Firework Beach and noticed a couple of people down the docks. She noticed a lone cabin near a cliff off the shore that had a large eighth note perched on the door. Once she opened the door to the Music Cabin, however, she found that someone had beaten her to it: a beautiful melody was softly playing upon the keys of a grand piano. As she neared the piano in one corner of the room, she found that she would know the curly, black hair and pale white skin _anywhere._

"Like always?" she asked Charmagne as she sat at the feet of the stool.

Charmagne chuckled and stopped playing, "Yeah."

Allysa looked at her best friend and found that Charmagne's eyes were filled with an emotion she would only know as fear.

"I don't want to die," the pale girl muttered, "Where's my mom when I need her?"

"Why would you ask for your mom _now_ when you've lived twelve years, nearly thirteen in a two weeks, without her?" asked Allysa, who didn't really want this conversation to go bad. She looked up at Charmagne, "Besides," she added, "Why look for your mother, when hundreds of other people, maybe including a couple of gods, are looking for her too? Why look for her when I'm right here? And I'm always gonna put you first, unlike her - you know that you're never alone..."

Charmagne couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that whatever Allysa first thinks of, immediately comes out of her mouth - raw, with no filtering whatsoever.

Seeing as her best friend decided not to say anything, Allysa started again, "Hey... What was that you were playing a while ago?"

"This?" And Charmagne played a few chords, then played some sort of instrumental stringing of the notes.

"Yeah," replied Allysa, "It sounds familiar to me," and she racked her brains for it.

Charmagne shrugged, "My dad says that my favorite uncle used to play it on the piano we had at home," she explained, "But that was most probably when I was about three... I've never seen this 'favorite uncle' of mine again after that, though,"

"Funny," Allysa chuckled, "I know this song... And my mom said that my favorite aunt used to sing it to me as a lullaby..."

And then, the two girls had an idea.

Charmagne and Allysa looked at each other, knowing what the other had in mind. "Ready?" Charmagne asked, "You know, you might be going first..."

"Yeah, I know," replied Allysa. And once Charmagne's fingers were ready on the keys of the piano, she drew a deep breath and began singing:

_"May the angels protect you, and trouble neglect you_

_And heaven accept you, when it's time to go home_

_May you always have plenty, your glass never empty_

_And know in your belly, you're Never Alone,"_

Charmagne was now playing a pretty little melody and they found themselves smiling at the song.

_"May your tears come from laughing, you find friends worth having_

_With every day passing, they mean more than gold_

_May you win but stay humble, smile more than grumble_

_And know when you stumble, you're Never Alone..."_

Allysa and Charmagne stole a glance at each other at the same time, almost making them laugh. But Allysa drew another breath, and sang:

_"Never Alone, Never Alone_

_I'll be in every beat of your heart when you face the unknown_

_Wherever you'd fly, this isn't goodbye_

_My love will follow you, stay with you_

_Baby, you're never alone,"_

And Charmagne's instrumental there sent shivers down both their spines and both stopped.

Allysa bit her lip, "That was really beautiful,"

Charmagne opened her mouth to say something but her voice was caught in her throat for the door of the Music Cabin burst open and a tall woman with blazing red hair and emerald green eyes stood there, staring at the two young girls, who both got up on their feet. As they looked at her closely, both found that her eyes weren't in focus, and she seemed to want to say something to them.

"'Lysa," began Charmagne, still staring at the woman before them,"... I think-"

"I know," Allysa overrode her, also staring at the woman, "It's Miss Dare..."

However, when poetic words flowed from the woman's mouth, Allysa and Charmagne gaped at her:

_"In the west, you're bound to find_

_A god detesting all mankind _

_And once you find that day has died_

_You'll find a loss in what you've tried_

_You'll be lost in the dark of night_

_Yet, stars provide a silver light_

_And once the lie has broken down _

_A mother one has gladly found_

_So three will journey to the west_

_Two kinds of light and water, best_

_And the riddle of the Maiden's Daughter_

_Will now finally have one answer."_

And once she was done, Rachel exhaled and looked around, "... Wow. How did I get here?" and she laughed at herself.

But Allysa and Charmagne looked horror-struck at her.

**XoXoXoXoX**

**© empurple**


End file.
